July 24: March for a Clean Energy Revolutio

In conjunction with the Democratic National Convention, there will be a Summit (Saturday the 23rd) and March (noon on Sunday) for a Clean Energy Revolution.  Buses are being arranged to bring participants from Pittsburgh to the march on Sunday;  lots more info below.

Why should you join us in Philadelphia?  Thousands will be coming together from across the country, meeting in the streets of Philadelphia, to peacefully march together and call on our elected leaders to ban fracking, keep fossil fuels in the ground, and quickly and justly transition to 100% renewable energy.  Our climate can't wait — we need decisive action, and that's why we'll be in Philly this summer.

March starts at noon, and includes Philadelphia City Hall, John F Kennedy Blvd & N Broad St, (Philadelphia, PA) -- More details here

Here are a few helpful links for planning your trip, and ways you can help: 
And last but not least, please consider making a donation to support the March for a Clean Energy Revolution. Your donation will help us get more people to Philadelphia by providing scholarships for transportation and housing.  Questions?  Contact Eva Westheimer, western PA organizer for Food & Water Watch:  ewestheimer@fwwatch.org513-600-0580

July 16: Sustainability Salon on Pittsburgh's Sustainability Initiatives


Pittsburgh has become a leader in green innovation, with ambitious goals for further progress on energy efficiency and sourcing, waste reduction, smart development, technology, diversity, resilience, and other fronts.  









For the 54th Sustainability Salon, we'll welcome back Mayor Bill Peduto to talk about Pittsburgh's sustainability initiatives, including the Smart Cities project.  We'll also have Pittsburgh's Senior Resilience Coordinator Rebecca Kiernan and ResilienceCorps Fellow Alex Cupo with more insights from Grant Street, and Eva Westheimer of Food & Water Watch to bring everyone up to date on the plans for next weekend's March for a Clean Energy Revolution -- before we break for a great potluck supper.  Please read on for more info!
The 55th Sustainability Salon will take place on August 13th, and as is our summertime tradition we'll have a more relaxed event with no speakers, just free-flowing conversation and the usual potluck and music.


Another note, then on to the Salon basics.  It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to Roger Westman, former head of the Air Quality Division of the Allegheny County Health Department and until quite recently one of the leading advocates for solar power in our region.  He spoke about Solarize Allegheny at the 45th Sustainability Salon last October (pictured here).  Continuing to tread lightly on the earth, he was recently laid to rest at the Penn Forest Natural Burial Park, the first green cemetery in Pennsylvania.

Salons run 3-10 p.m. at Maren's house in Squirrel Hill.  Please don't arrive before 3 p.m.  We usually aim to start the program sometime around 4, after folks have had a chance to meet, mingle, and tour around an interesting and productive urban permaculture site.   Please email me (at maren dot cooke at gmail dot com) with salon in the Subject line to RSVP (yes or maybe), or click on the link in your EventBrite invitation (if you're not already on my list, please email me to be added!).  Please RSVP each time -- it helps greatly in several ways.  Among other things, attendance varies widely, and these events have been so successful that we need to begin limiting attendance.  So RSVP early if you can, to ensure your participation!  The free virtual "tickets" on Eventbrite may run out (you don't need to print any tickets, by the way, just be on the list).  Also, weather and such can be unpredictable and it's good to know who to contact if there's a change -- and I'll send directions and/or a trail map if you need 'em on Friday or Saturday.  Be sure to include salon in the Subject line, as I receive a ridiculous amount of email every day.  And if you're new, please let me know how you heard about the Salons!
Bring food and/or drink to share if you can, along with musical instruments if you play.  Check back on MarensList (where you can find information on all sorts of environmental and social justice events) for updates.  And if you aren't yet on my list, if you're interested in Sustainability Salons (and our occasional house concert, simply contact me and I'll put you on my email list.  

As always, I'll be sending out directions and such, and any late-breaking info, to all the RSVP'd folks by the morning of the salon if not before.  So if you don't have it yet, please be patient!  One of these days I'll streamline this process a bit, but for now it takes a while to to dot all my i's and cross all my t's.  (All the extraneous requests for the address don't help;  I have lots of other stuff I send out with it, but don't like to let them go unanswered so it adds hours to my prep time.  If you RSVP properly (see above), you should get the info by the morning of the salon!)
For the uninitiated, a Sustainability Salon is an educational forum;  a venue for discussion and debate about important environmental issues;  it's a house party with an environmental theme.  We usually have featured speakers on various aspects of a topic, interspersed with stimulating conversation, lively debate, delectable potluck food and drink, and music-making through the evening.

Past topics have included fossil energy infrastructure, getting money out of politicscommunity solar power and the Solarize Allegheny program, the Paris climate negotiations (beforeduring, and after), air quality (again, with news on the autism connection), reuse (of things and substances), neighborhood-scale food systems, other forms of green community revitalizationsolar powerclimate changeenvironmental art, environmental education (Part I & Part II), community mapping projectsenvironmental journalismgrassroots actionMarcellus shale development and community rightsgreen buildingair qualityhealth care, more solar powertrees and park stewardshipalternative energy and climate policyregional watershed issues, fantastic film screenings and discussions (often led by filmmakers) over the winter with Rachel Carson and the Power Of One VoiceTriple Divide on fracking, You've Been Trumped and A Dangerous GameA Fierce Green FireSustainability Pioneersfilms on consumptionLiving DownstreamBidder 70YERTGas Rush Stories, and foodfoodfoodfoodfoodfoodfoodfoodand more food (a recurrent theme;  with California running out of water, we'd better gear up to produce a lot more of our own!).
Quite a few people have asked me what sorts of food to bring -- and my answer, as always, is whatever inspires you;  I believe in the "luck" part of potlucks.  Tasty noshings for the afternoon, hearty main dishes or scrumptious salads and sides for dinner, baked goods from biscuits and breads to brownies or baklava -- and/or beverages of any kind:  wine, beer, hard or sweet cider (the latter we can mull if you like), juice, tea, whatever.  The more the merrier!  Local fare is always particularly welcome, whether homegrown or boughten.  Dishes containing meat or dairy are fine, though if it isn't really obvious please make a note of it.  

If you haven't been here before, you may enjoy checking out our roof garden and solar installation (and now apiary!) as well as the many other green and interesting things around our place.  

And if you like to make music or listen to homemade music, don't forget the evening sing -- we typically run the gamut from Irish fiddle tunes to protest songs to the Beatles, and a fun time is had by all.  Bring instruments if you play, and/or pick up one of ours.  Conversations will continue through the evening, as well. 

Jul 9: Hazelwood Bike Fix-it Day

This Saturday July 9 is full of good events in Hazelwood.  In addition to the Marketplace event on 2nd Ave, they're holding the second annual FREE Bike Fixit Day and Bike Raffle at St. Stephen Parish Hall and Parking Lot from 10 am to 1 pm.  The cost of the raffle is listening to a bike safety talk, and they'll be doing simple bike repairs for free!   Also food, music, face-painting, games, and free bike maps.  It was a real family event last year and Hazelwood community members are once again invited to join in the fun, focused on real sustainable transportation:  Biking: Be the Engine!